Cyber Pilgrimages for Spiritual Growth

Older generations journeyed on pilgrimages to sites that nourished spiritual life. Today, I am thankful that the while the means of growth in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ remain unchanged and unchanging—Word, Sacrament, and Prayer—the expression (and resources) of those means is always adapting, expanding, and deepening.

Recently I have been greatly blessed by several sites (“sacred” may be defined as what you bring to and leave with on your visit) that I share with you, our readers.

• The C.S. Lewis Institute is the official site of one of the leading discipleship ministries serving the Church. Founded by Dr. James Houston (founder of Regent College, Vancouver) the CSLI has grown in size and influence as the city directors (London, Washington D.C., and several others) lead people through a Fellows Program that prepares laypeople to live and minister out of a spiritually vibrant, literate, and theological foundation. There are rich resources for disciples here.
• CommonPrayer.Org is an outstanding site dedicated to providing access to the rich devotional and worship resources from the Book of Common Prayer. There are, also, church year calendars and many other good and enriching materials for spiritual growth in the Christian life.
• Oremeus is a place for daily prayer with collect, Scripture readings, and hymns. Oremus is the Latin call to prayer, “Let us pray.” This site is based upon the Anglican tradition of the Western liturgy. Other Anglican resources are available here.
• The Berkley Center (at Georgetown University) for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs – This is a great resource filled with multi-media. The Berkley Center is an indispensable resource for any study of world religions.
• Theological Commons (at Princeton Theological Seminary) – The Theological Commons is a digital library of 78,924 books and periodicals on theology and religion, including 29,322 volumes from the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.
• L’Abri Fellowship – L’Abri defies categories. Perhaps, the very word, meaning “shelter,” is the best description of where to place this ministry. L’Abri was founded by Dr. Francis Schaeffer and his wife, Edith, in 1955 in Switzerland. It offered, then, what it continues to offer, today: a place to come and ask questions and receive answers from those who believe that what the Bible says is true. This is, thus, apologetics, if you will, with a roof and a bed, with light gardening, and heavy praying. We commend it to those who are so blessed. For the rest of us, may we imitate what they are doing in our own communities.
• Collections of Religious Imagery: – This is an outstanding directory of locations holding, often, high-resolution images related to theology and religious studies. The visitor to this site will find old photographs, postcards, and other items—many of them Christian and some of them not—that will refresh the soul as the story of God’s faithfulness is told through art and image.
• Eikon Image Database – The EIKON Image Database for Biblical Studies is a faculty-library initiative at Yale Divinity School that provides digital resources for teaching and research in the field of Biblical studies.
• St. George’s Anglican Church – in Colorado Springs is an example of a faithful congregation sharing the daily Morning Prayer service and orther components in the cycle of worship. I commend it with joy.

I have collected a number of discipleship (and academic) resources, by catagory, in the links section of this, the Faith for Living home page. Click Resources and links in the menu above.

I might prefer to journey on pilgrimage with others, in community—and let us laud the virtues of corporate worship—yet I am thankful for these little side-trips to these “springs” of healing.